PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA OFFERS NEW WAY TO CONDUCT ADVERTISING

Companies looking for a print medium aimed at affluent, sophisticated consumers don't necessarily have to buy full-page, four-color ads in Connoisseur or Smithsonian magaines. They could start with the Philharmonic Orchestra Of Florida, right here in Fort Luaderdale.

Beginning with this autumn's season, the Philharmonic will be publishing its own perfect-bound, slick-paper program guide, a la Playbill, the theater- goers' program magazine. And although ad soliciting for the new publication, which will be magazine-sized rather than pamphlet-sized, has been going on for only six weeks, the response is already greater than expected, says Lisa Gonzalez, public relations and marketing director for the orchestra.

"The ads have been coming in very nicely and we're delighted," Gonzalez said. "I think this is a market that hasn't been presented to people before."

That market includes concert-goers at all of the philharmonic's 41 performances next season, covering 32 classical concerts and nine light- classical and "pops" performances. As to the demographics, "I would suspect that it is a very affluent group and, as evidenced by the advertising coming in, the advertisers also think it's a very affluent group," Gonzalez said.

So far, those firms reaching out to the concert-going set range from import automobile dealers to banks, brokerage houses, real estate agencies and a country club.

Although the orchestra has published a program in the past, it was "nothing this ambitious," Gonzalez said. "The one in Boca Raton last season had the entire season in one book. In Broward County it was more a listing of what was being played, rather than giving people interesting reading material," she added.

The new program will be divided into three different sections covering the Fort Lauderdale area, one for the Boca Raton and West Palm Beach area, and one for the entire South Florida region. The idea is that advertisers will be able to select which portion of the orchestra's audience is their audience.

In addition, the performance notes and editorial material will be revised every three concerts during the season, Gonzalez explained, which should keep concert-goers reading throughout the season.

Advertisers will have the choice between the South Florida region and one of the local sections of the program. Non-commissionable rates range from $4,400 for a full-color, full-page, full-run ad for the season to $550 for a black-and-white, quarter-page ad in one of the regional editions.

Gonzalez said that a minimum of 70,000 copies will be printed. Production of the publication is being coordinated by Labelle, Hill and French Publishing Inc. of Delray Beach, which is also handling advertising solicitation and service.

As to the editorial content of the program, "It will be geared toward concert-goers and people in this area to help get them to know more about the philharmonic and what is going on in the area," Gonzalez explained.

Besides all that, "We're going further afield this year and we're taking the book with us," she said, explaining that new concert locales have been added to the new season's schedule, including concerts in Coral Springs and West Palm Beach.

"You know that advertising with us you'll be reaching a very wide audience," Gonzalez said.

BRIGHT MARKET

Sales Consultants of Fort Lauderdale has released a national opinion poll indicating that sales and marketing employment in the South Atlantic region of the country -- including South Florida -- will show an increase for the second half of this year.

The survey was conducted by the firm's parent company, Sales Consultants International Inc., a nationwide network of offices headquartered in Cleveland. In the poll, more than 1,300 executives in companies across the country were asked to project their hiring plans for the next six months.

The poll showed a total of 67.2 percent of those surveyed in the South Atlantic area planning to expand their sales and marketing staffs in the next six months. Slightly more than 29 percent planned to maintain their current staff levels, while 3.4 percent said they planned reductions.